Quilters' Quarters has had a wonderful summer season, with many thanks owed to the Row by Row 2014 quilters who visited us each week. What a wonderful, kind, patient group of people to invite into one's life! This morning, a quilter brought her finished Row by Row quilt in to Quilters' Quarters, and received her prize of 25 hand-picked fat quarters, and a special prize because her quilt includes our "Beyond Winter Windows" row!We will celebrate our First Anniversary in November, on "Small Business Saturday," the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day. That was our "Mini-Grand Opening" day last year, and with a dozen bolts of fabric standing in an old travel trunk, some hand and sewing-machine needles hung sparingly on a peg board, and a basket full of donated fat quarters from the stash of a very good friend, we began our quilt shop adventure. For the first few weeks it was simply called Terry's Thoughts and Threads Quilt Shop, as my business name was established with the town and the state years ago when I began writing and selling books, and making quilts.
The shop became known as "Quilters' Quarters" once I'd begun writing my new mystery series ... the story of the octogenarian couple, Helen and Henry, and the mysterious things happening to them in this new millennium. It was important to me to have the apostrophe in the right place in the shop's name, so that all Quilters would feel at home in our Quarters. The book title, though, uses the singular form, The Quilter's Quarters, as it is the story of Helen's role in her shop.
She and Henry are there to greet quilters who come to visit. The heat bothers Helen a great deal, and she has shortened her skirts and rolled down her stockings for the duration of summer. Henry is always comfortable in whatever the weather offers, wearing his long-johns and jeans, flannel shirt, white socks and work boots all year long.
There is a second story of Helen and Henry in the works, and it will optimistically be available for our First Anniversary celebration. Winter Wonder in the Quilter's Quarters will pick up where book one ended, with Helen and Henry entering the beautiful winter season with some trepidation due to unexpected events.
The quilt shop is continuing to grow; we love to hear about things quilters are
looking for. In response to one quilter, we are now stocking Bosal foam stabilizer, which helps those making bags, slippers and such. And we've added that and more to our on-line web store at
that is where you can get my books and now fabrics and kits easily, from the comfort of home ... particularly inviting when winter's icy roads set in. Henry can tell you all about his experience with icy roads in the next story.We've met more than two hundred new customers this summer, and look forward to seeing them again in the near future. The organizers of Row by Row 2014 have an announcement ready for release in late September ... something to do with state postcards ... and quilter contacts .... you'll have to stay tuned for more details!
Come visit us and see the new Autumn fabrics we have in stock ... beautiful harvests, and Halloween fabrics, and more birch trees and cardinals to grace your tables. We have a few guests who've come to stay in the shop as well: Scooby-Doo, the Pink Panther, and a herd of nearly invisible unicorns. Snoopy, Linus and even Charlie Brown make an appearance now and then, and Dalmatians, Dogs of all kinds, Butterflies and even Rudoph can be found in various cabinets in the shop.
~ Terry and Rick
As always, if you are reading this update in your email, thank you for signing up for the newsletter. We usually publish it about twice a month, but in between editions, we also update the various pages that comprise this blog. Recent additions are the Machine Quilting Classes page, and progress on current quilts at Terry's QuiltingJournal 2014 page. Come visit us at the blog and see what else is happening at Quilters' Quarters.
Feel free to share this email or blog link with your friends and families, and encourage the quilters among you to check out the Row by Row page of the blog as well as the website itself. We're in for a great experience this summer ~ jump in and join us!
Terry, web page TerryCrawfordPalardy.com, email: needlesandpens@comcast.net
Rick, web page WoodenToyandGift.net, email: woodentoyandgift@comcast.net
Rick's blog: WTandGNews.blogspot.com
We would love to read your comments!
ReplyDelete